ANOTHER VIEW: Open Primaries Initiative is voice of Idaho Citizens, not a ‘pernicious plot’
Idaho Statesman Editorial Board
The Open Primaries Initiative, which has been certified by the secretary of state to be on the November ballot, is but the latest in a long and healthy history of citizen initiatives in Idaho.
It is not, as Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon said, a “pernicious plot.”
In brief, the Open Primaries Initiative asks voters to approve a new system of open primaries and a four-way ranked choice voting general election. If approved by a majority of voters, the initiative would open the primary election to all candidates, regardless of political party or affiliation.
It would eliminate the Republican Party’s closed primary, which those on the far right — such as Moon — hold dear.
From the primary, the top four vote-getters would go on to the general election in November with a “ranked choice voting” system, in which voters rank their choice of candidate by ordered preference. If no candidate wins a majority of the votes, the last-place finisher is eliminated, and their votes go to their voters’ second-choice candidate. That process is repeated until two candidates remain. The candidate with more votes wins.
The initiative is worthy of debate, and in the coming months leading up to the November election, it’s a debate we will engage in.
In the meantime, though, let us recognize that citizens initiatives have a rich history in Idaho, and the Open Primaries Initiative is a valid use of that power that was envisioned by the framers of our Idaho Constitution.
“The people reserve to themselves the power to propose laws, and enact the same at the polls independent of the legislature,” according to Section 1 of Article III of the constitution. “This power is known as the initiative, and legal voters may, under such conditions and in such manner as may be provided by acts of the legislature, initiate any desired legislation and cause the same to be submitted to the vote of the people at a general election for their approval or rejection.”
That same section also provides for a referendum, a vote of the people “to approve or reject at the polls any act or measure passed by the legislature.”
Idaho initiatives
In the past 88 years, only 30 initiatives have made it on the ballot, and only half have been approved.
You may not know this, but the first successful law enacted by Idaho voters was the establishment of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission — in 1938.
In 1974, Idaho’s Sunshine Law for political funds and lobbyist activity disclosure was passed by citizen initiative. (You can understand why legislators might not be so quick to pass something like that.)
We also have a citizen initiative to thank for today’s popular homeowners exemption for property taxes, which was passed in 1982.
The Idaho Lottery Commission was established by initiative in 1986.
More recently, in 2018, voters approved Medicaid expansion with 60% support after Idaho’s Republican legislators failed to do so for several years.
Today, getting an initiative on the ballot is not an easy hurdle to clear. Not by a long shot.
Idaho law requires organizers to collect signatures from 6% of the Idaho voters registered at the last election, as well as 6% of registered voters in at least 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts.
Open Primaries Initiative organizers collected more than 97,000 signatures, which got winnowed down to the 75,000 signatures verified by county clerks and confirmed Wednesday by the Secretary of State’s Office.
Idaho referendums
On the referendum front, Idaho voters have put six such measures on the ballot since 1936.
In 1936, voters rejected a law that established a 2% sales tax.
Thirty years later, in 1966, they gave the go-ahead to a 3% sales tax imposed by legislators.
In 2012, Idaho voters famously used the referendum to overturn the so-called “Luna laws,” which were championed by then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna regarding public education funding, and were clearly not liked.
It’s important to keep in mind that just because the Open Primaries Initiative is on the ballot does not mean that it’s approved and about to become Idaho law. It now has to win a majority of the votes from all statewide ballots on Nov. 5, when everyone’s voices will be heard.
Imagine that.
Initiatives often get on the ballot when Idaho citizens, seeking to make our state a better place, take action in the face of a Legislature that refuses to act.
And then an initiative gives voters an opportunity to decide.
Sounds like democracy to us.
Not a pernicious plot.